These are large 17-inch shorebirds. Found on coastal mudflats and rocky coasts, they feed on shellfish. These birds group in small flocks and keep apart from other shorebirds. The plumage is all black with a long red bill and pale legs. The voice is a sharp piercing whistle.
These birds lay their eggs in a shallow depression on a rocky beach. Two or three eggs are laid. They are olive beige with dark brown blotches. Both parents incubate the eggs. Incubation lasts from 24 to 27 days.
It is a resident along North America's western edge from the Aleutian Islands to Baja California.
Class: Aves | Order: Charadriiformes (waders)| Family: Haematopodidae | Species: Haematopus bachmani
